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How to use WhatsApp as real estate agents
Having a constant communication with clients is fundamental for your work as property agent. For this reason, making the most of the advantages that WhatsApp offers for real estate agents will make your life easier. Keep reading and discover how you can benefit from this app’s features. Below we tell you all about it.
WhatsApp Business
If you are already a user of WhatsApp, it won’t be difficult to get to grips with its business version, as its layout is very similar. For your contacts, the main difference will be the possibility of viewing the profile of your business with corporate information, such as the description of your agency, your address or your opening hours.
Regarding day-to-day tasks, you will have extra benefits with which to use the app as a marketing tool. Through the statistics, for example, you can see which messages have been sent, delivered, read and received, so you will have a fairly accurate idea of the efficiency of your actions. You can also programme welcome messages and automatic responses for when you are offline.
Thanks to the catalogues, your clients will have a simple and direct access to properties in your asset portfolio, and you can also share them very easily. Not only will they be available in your profile, but you can also share links to them very quickly in your messages.
By being able to classify your contacts with tags, you’ll have the ability to remember accurately your relationship to each of them. You’ll be able to find easily, for example, those interested in a property, property owners, tenants in the process of searching in a given neighbourhood, and so on. Finally, with the automatic responses, you can quickly respond to questions about opening hours, your account number or other queries you often receive, without having to type them over and over again.
How to use WhatsApp for managing your contacts
A large part of success in your work is based on quality communication with the client. More than 2 billion people around the world use Whatsapp to do so, so the option of using it in your business has a lot of potential, as long you adhere to certain rules and legal restrictions.
Although writing messages gives the person you’re speaking to the option to decide when to answer, you have to be very respectful with the closeness of clients and follow a strict protocol for putting yourself in contact with them. Just as certain messages are unacceptable in your personal life, context and relevance are everything for this tool to be effective.
You can add a button on your website to contact you via WhatsApp, so that customers can take the initiative to engage in conversation with you whenever they want. This way, they will be the one who takes the first step, and establishing communication via Whatsapp will be less invasive. Don’t forget to advertise that you use the app on your business cards!
If the client leaves you with their number and asks that you call them, you can ask them in person if you are allowed to message them on WhatsApp. Again, with their permission you will take a less aggressive approach. From then on, you will take these other things into account:
- Only send relevant information. If you send them promotional messages or other information which isn’t of interest, you will lose the efficiency of your communication, or in the worst case scenario, they will block you.- Use statuses to talk about general news. You can upload photos or short videos with corporate information that your contacts can access voluntarily if they are interested. For this to happen, it is important that they have your number saved.
- Get the most out of tags for sending group messages. You can write to several people at the same time and speed up your communication with them. If, for example, you want to share a link to a property with all those interested in buying in a specific area, you only have to do it once.
- Use automatic responses for when you aren’t working.
Chats and conversational marketing
In addition to following a specific protocol, it’s also advisable to take care of the quality of the texts you write. Always opt for clear, concise messages that add value to those who receive them. It will help you to get it right, if you bear in mind the profile of your clients, in order to adapt the tone of your communication to the audience. With young users, you can be more approachable, and if you work with luxury properties it’s advisable to use a formal tone.
If you want to learn more about the topic, by doing an Internet search you’ll find content with which to delve deeper into the best way to structure your writing. On the other hand, remember that the real estate sector is very visual, so do not hesitate to share images whenever possible.
What you must never do on WhatsApp
With the possibility of directly accessing the phones of your clients, there’s certain limits you must not cross. Otherwise, your actions will lose effectiveness and you will not be taken seriously. For example, although it’s a messaging system with which to send written communications, we recommend that you treat it like any other media, and avoid writing at night or in the early hours of the morning. As the person in charge of your business, you can choose not to have a timetable, but remember this doesn’t apply to the customer too.
Contact customers only about issues that are relevant to them. If unwanted emails are annoying, imagine how they will feel to receive promotional or uninteresting messages on their phone. Always think of WhatsApp as a communication tool, and stick to statuses for generic messages.
In addition, and as a general rule, always keep professionalism in mind. When in doubt, put yourself in the shoes of your client and think about the image you will give if you use the client’s contact for personal messages or matters unrelated to your services.
In short, by following some basic rules here you will have a versatile and effective tool. What are you waiting for, to benefit from the advantages of WhatsApp for real estate agencies?
